2 brothers die, eight escape fire in Easton

Brothers Mark and Paul Beaton, both believed to be in their 50s, died early Tuesday morning in a fire at this home on Richardson Road in Easton, according to Easton Fire Chief Kim White. White said eight other people in the home at the time managed to escape.

Mark Putnam | Presque Isle Star-Herald

Police closed off a section of the Richardson Road in Easton Tuesday where two people were killed in an early morning fire.

EASTON, Maine — Two brothers were killed, but eight other people managed to escape a home destroyed by fire on Richardson Road early Tuesday morning.

Paul Beaton and Mark Beaton, both believed to be in their early 50s, were killed in the blaze that was reported at 5 a.m., according to Easton Fire Chief Kim White. Mark Beaton owned the home.

Eight other people were in the home at the time of the fire, according to White. He said he did not know whether all had been living at the home or whether some people had been visiting. The eight who escaped the fire had gotten out safely by the time firefighters arrived.

Investigators from the state fire marshals office spent the day on the scene of the first fatal fire in Easton since 1959, according to White. As of Tuesday afternoon, they had not determined a cause for the fire.

There were no working smoke detectors in the home.

“It was fully involved when we got there,” White said.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said the survivors were being interviewed.

“Of benefit to us is that we have eight people who can help us determine what happened and where the fire might have started,” he said Tuesday afternoon.